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Serum sCD163 levels associated with polymyositis/dermatomyositis, disease activity
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Serum levels of soluble CD163 were significantly elevated in patients with polymyositis and dermatomyositis, and levels correlated with disease activity and CD163+ macrophage infiltration, suggesting soluble CD163 may hold potential as a biomarker, according to recently published research.
Researchers studied 24 patients with probable or definite polymyositis (PM) and 84 patients with dermatomyositis (DM) according to Bohan and Peter criteria who were treated at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital between 2010 and 2013. The cohort comprised 76 women, with mean onset of disease at 45.1 years of age and a mean disease duration of 2.3 years.
Patients were excluded in the presence of inclusion body myositis according to criteria proposed by Griggs and colleagues, any immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy according to the criteria from the European Neuromuscular Centre, any malignancy within 1 year of diagnosis, or the administration of immunosuppressants or steroids 3 months prior to serum sampling. Forty-six healthy participants were recruited as a control group.
Patients with active disease underwent MRI-guided muscle biopsies to measure macrophage infiltration, and serum samples were collected from all participants.
The median value of serum soluble CD163 (sCD163) in patients with PM/DM was 785.6 ng/mL compared with 491.2 ng/mL in healthy participants. The median level of sCD163 in patients with DM was 830.5 ng/mL, a statistically significant increase compared with patients with PM, according to the researchers.
Patients who tested positive for antinuclear antibodies (ANA) had a median value of 855.7 ng/mL sCD163 compared with 752.2 ng/mL in patients who were ANA-negative.
Levels of sCD163 were more elevated in patients with PM/DM and interstitial lung disease, but no correlation was shown with disease duration or the presence of oropharyngeal dysphagia, Raynaud’s phenomenon, mechanic hands or arthritis, the researchers reported. Additionally, no significant differences were observed between newly treated patients or patients with prior treatment.
An inverse correlation was observed between CD3+ T cells in peripheral blood, and patients with high serum levels of sCD163 had higher levels of immunoglobulin-G (IgG) and higher erythrocyte sedimentation rates (ESR); correlations with other laboratory markers were also observed.
Spearman correlation analysis revealed that serum sCD163 levels were associated with global disease activity assessments at the initial assessment. Of 26 newly diagnosed patients with PM/DM, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests showed that following treatment, serum sCD163 levels and global disease activity became significantly decreased.
Analysis of 17 muscle biopsies from patients with PM and from 17 patients with DM showed CD163+ macrophage infiltrations in five patients with PM and in 13 patients with DM, which correlated to increased serum sCD163 results, according to the researchers. - by Shirley Pulawski
Disclosure: No financial disclosures were available at the time of publication.
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